THE ARCHIPELAGO OF BREHAT. 67 



first excursion. My portfolios were full of imperfect 

 notes ; my sketches were many of them unfinished, 

 being, in fact, mere outlines, hastily drawn, and 

 serving more as guides to my memory than as faith- 

 ful representations of the objects I had seen. I 

 determined therefore to supply the many deficiencies 

 which seemed either to suggest the existence of some 

 mystery to be revealed or of some truth to be de- 

 monstrated. Having taken this resolution, it only 

 remained for me to make choice of my future station. 

 The magnificent atlas of the Hydrographie franqaise, 

 enabled me to trace on paper the entire reefs of 

 rocks, which appear to be thrown around ancient 

 Armorica as if to defend it alike from the fury of the 

 waves and the assaults of hostile fleets. In the 

 midst of the innumerable small islands which have 

 been so minutely represented by the skilful en- 

 gineers who worked under the direction of M. 

 Beautemps-Beaupre, the little Archipelago of Brehat, 

 lying to the north-west of Saint-Brieuc, attracted my 

 attention by the resemblance it appeared to present 

 to that of Chausey. This resemblance seemed indi- 

 cative of future success, and without further hesita- 

 tion I took my departure for the department of 

 Cotes du Nord. 



My journey from Paris to Saint-Brieuc presented 

 nothing worthy of notice. On leaving the dili- 

 gence, I was obliged to go in search of some kind of 

 conveyance, to transport myself and my various items 

 of luggage to Paimpol, the small seaport town from 

 whence I was to embark for the Island of Brehat. 

 After many inquiries and much searching, I at 



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